​Linguine with Scaloppini, 2007
Oil on linen, 2' x 2'

Brown Sugar Buried, 2007
Oil on linen, 2' x 2'

March 12, 2006,  It was a couple weeks before I retired from my job with the Federal Transit Administration in Washington which was scheduled for the 1st of April (April Fool’s Day) and I was looking forward to spending more time in my adopted city, New York.  Sandra and I sensed we were on a precipice of a grand adventure.   We relished the idea of being able to be in the same place most of the time, something we had not experienced since we met. We planned a special candlelight dinner for our Sunday night ritual -- watching the Sopranos, taking our culinary inspirations from the series.   Sandra had given me a copy of the Soprano Family Cookbook for Valentine’s; however this meal was not in their collections of recipes.  Not finding exactly what I was looking for, I concocted my own,  serving veal scaloppini with mushrooms in a Marsala sauce over fresh linguine.    For dessert I fried fresh pineapple rings in brown sugar and butter and served the fried pineapple with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.  Fred May